1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a panelled room ceiling having flexible heating and cooling tubes disposed adjacent and above thereto for achieving a predetermined room temperature.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ceilings for heating or cooling the underlying room are known, in which metal panels are suspended from a support structure and pipes for the passage of a heating or cooling medium are fastened to said panels or support structure. The connection between the pipes and the metal panels should be solid and have a high heat conductivity so as to obtain a high heating or cooling effect. This is true particularly in the case of cooling since there the temperature differences must be relatively small in order to exclude the danger of formation of water due to condensation. Since the metal panels must be restricted in size on account of the possibility of handling them, the pipes will also have a restricted length, if they are fastened to the metal panels during assembly, resulting in a plurality of pipe junctions. This renders the assembly of the ceiling more difficult and enhances considerably the danger of leakage. If continuous pipes extending in one direction over the whole ceiling are used, either the pipes must be fastened to the assembled metal panels, or the metal panels must be fastened to the assembled pipes. Both processes require a very large expenditure of work. Another considerable disadvantage of such a construction is the difficulty of removing individual metal panels from the ceiling in order to obtain access to the space above the metal panels or for replacing individual panels. Also the replacement of the pipes is very complicated.
From the periodical "Gesundheits-Ingenieur", vol. 1962, issue 5, page 150, a metal ceiling consisting of individual panels and a supporting structure is known, which may be used as covering, sound absorber, ventilating system and, if heating pipes are built into the hollow space, as a radiator ceiling. Such heating pipes are rigid individual pipes which are not in direct contact with the metal panels. In order to obtain a sufficient heating effect, there must be created a considerable temperature difference between the heating pipe surface and its surroundings. The same holds true when the pipes are used for cooling. In this case, however, there will be a formation of condensed water on the pipes so that a cooling effect will be practically impossible. Furthermore there are the assembling difficulties as described above.